City Of Bones Jace POV
by destielocked
Summary: Basically It's City of Bones froms Jace's Point of View. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own this plotline or the characters, they are all by Cassandra Clare :) Please read and review but as this is my first fanfic, please be kind!**

**~Molly~**

City of Bones Jace's POV

Jace hated demons. Downworlders were okay, they knew how to party. Especially at the Pandemonium Club. This demon couldn't even dress normal. He had electric blue hair that spiked in all directions and really bright green eyes. He also had a red zip-up jacket that even Elvis himself would have cringed at. He had a blade in his hand that looked lethal. He nudged Alec.

"Bet he used glamour to get in with that thing!" He had to shout as the music was deafening. Jace looked around. It was easy to spot Isabelle. She looked stunning in her white dress. She'd worn it to cover all her runes. She snaked her way towards the demon and walked past him. The hungry look in his eyes sickened Jace. The demon followed Isabelle towards the storage cupboard. He was unaware of the two Shadowhunters behind him. Jace said to Alec "Let me do the talking alright?" Alec looked pained but he nodded.

They reached the cupboard only a second or two behind Isabelle and the demon. Before they entered, he got out a seraph blade and whispered its name. It flickered into life. They entered the cupboard and saw Isabelle standing over the demon and laughing. Her deadly gold whip curled around its ankles.

"He's all yours, boys." She smirked. Jace laughed as he hurled the demon against one of the concrete pillars. He bound the demon's wrists together and slowly came into its view while it pointlessly struggled. "So," Jace said. "Are there any more with you?"

"Any other what?" He replied. Jace smiled, still trying to deny what he is.

"Come on now." He held up his hands to the creature, showing the runes that covered his hands. "You know what I am." The demons expression shifted from confusion, to hatred.

"_Shadowhunter," _he hissed.

Jace grinned as the realisation hit him. "Got you," he said.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:None of the plot or characters below belong to me. They belong to Cassandra Clare. I have merely written this from Jace's POV not Clary's. Please read and review but please be kind :)**

**~Molly~**

Jace put his hands in his pockets and waited for the demon to answer. When no reply came he crossed his arms over his chest and paced back and forth in front of it. "So," Jace said. "You still haven't told me if there are any other of your kind with you." He wasn't worried either way; he could easily take out a few more of these things. "I don't know what you're talking about." The pain in its voice made Jace smile. It deserved it. "He means other demons." Alec spoke for the first time. Jace sighed internally; Alec had agreed to leave the talking to him. "You do know what a demon is, don't you?" Alec continued. "Demons," drawled Jace, while he traced the word with his finger in the air. "Religiously defined as hell's denizens, the servants of Satan, but understood here, for the purposes of the Clave, to be any malevolent spirit whose origin is outside our own home dimension "

"That's enough Jace," interrupted Isabelle.

"Isabelle's right," agreed Alec. "Nobody here needs a lesson in semantics or demonology."

Jace raised his head and smiled a cruel smile. "Isabelle and Alec think I talk too much," he said, as if confiding a great secret. "Do _you _think I talk too much?"

The blue haired demon didn't reply. It looked like it was grinding its teeth. "I could give you information," it said. "I know where Valentine is."

Jace looked back at Alec, his eyes questioning. Alec just shrugged in reply. Yeah very helpful, thought Jace sarcastically. "Valentine's in the ground," he said aloud. "The thing's just toying with us."

Isabelle tossed her hair impatiently. "Kill it, Jace," she said. "It's not going to tell us anything." Jace sighed and raised the seraph blade. The demons eyes widened and he gasped "Valentine is back!" It cried desperately. It dragged furiously at the bonds that held its hands behind its back. "All the Infernal Worlds know it I know it I can tell you where he is "

Anger, hatred and rage flooded through Jace. What was thing, this demon, to bargain with him, a Shadowhunter? And on a lie? Well that was going to get it nowhere. "By the Angel, every time we capture one of you bastards, you claim you know where Valentine is. Well, we know where he is too. He's in hell. And you" Jace let all his hatred of demons seep into his voice. "You can _join him there." _He raised the knife again.

"Stop!" a girl's voice cried. "You can't do this."

Jace span towards the voice. He was so surprised that the knife flew from his hand and clattered onto the floor. The first thing that struck Jace was that this girl, this _mundie_, could see through the glamour. See them. The second thing that struck him was how startlingly beautiful she was. There was nothing particularly unusual about her. Apart from a shock of red hair exploding from her head and the fact she could see us, she was completely average. Then why was he so attracted to her? He didn't even know her name. Jace realised that everyone had gone quiet, even the demon hung loosely in his chains.

"What's this?" he asked. Jace could tell from Alec's bewildered tone of voice and Izzy's silence that he was the first to recover from the shock.

"It's a girl," Jace said. "Surely you've seen girls before, Alec. Your sister Isabelle is one." He took a step closer to the girl and squinted to see if there was any glamour on her. There was none. "A mundie girl," he said as if in a daze. "And she can see us."

"Of course I can see you," the girl spoke for the second time. "I'm not blind, you know." How wrong she was.

"Oh, but you are," Jace said, as he bent to pick up the seraph blade. "You just don't know it." He stood back up. "You'd better get out of here, if you know what's good for you."

"I'm not going anywhere," she protested. Jace sighed, why did she have to be so stubborn? "If I so, you'll kill him," she continued and pointed at the demon. Mundies were so _stupid! _Wasn't there some primal instinct that warned her that this thing was dangerous?

"That's true," nodded Jace, while he turned the blade in his fingers. He didn't lie and maybe the sight of him handling the seraph blade with such ease would scare her away. "What do you care if I kill him or not?"

The girl spluttered and Jace smiled as her brain tried to formulate an answer. "Be-because, you can't just go around killing people."

"You're right," Jace replied. "You can't go around killing _people."_ He pointed at the demon but his eyes stayed locked with hers. "That's not a person, little girl. It may look like a person and talk like a person and maybe even bleed like a person. But it's a monster."

"_Jace,"_ Isabelle spoke for the first time since the girl came in. Her tone was full of warning. "That's enough."

"You're crazy," the girl said, finally backing away. "I've called the police the police, you know. They'll be here any second."

"She's lying," Alec said but Jace detected a trace of doubt in his voice. "Jace do you "

Alec never got to finish. Jace heard a high, yowling cry and suddenly a crushing weight leapt on him. The demon had escaped.

**Please review for next update :)**

**~Molly~**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own the plot or the characters, they belong to the very talented Cassandra Clare. I have just written it in a different way :)**

**~Molly~**

City Of Bones Jaces POV

They fell to the ground and rolled together as Jace tried to get a position on top of it. He gritted his teeth. Damn mundie! This was her fault! The things claws scrabbled furiously, trying to get to his face. Pain bloomed in points around his chest and suddenly there were sharp claws lunging towards his face. Quick as light he threw his arm in front of it and felt claws gauging deep lines in his arm. His blood spattered everywhere. He grimaced in pain. Vaguely, he could hear Isabelle shrieking. By now the demon was pinning him down. Just as the creature was about to lunge again, Jace heard the sharp crack of a whip and it fell sideways. Jace rolled over, scraped up the seraph blade and without hesitating, plunged it into the demons chest. As expected black blood oozed out of the wound and Jace felt a grim satisfaction. The demon arched its back and writhed against the pain. Jace's adrenaline started to dwindle and he was painfully reminded of his wounds. He stood up with a grimace.

He looked down at the pitiful sight at his feet and cruelly yanked the blade out of the demon. Its eyes flashed open and fixated on Jace's face.

"_So be it. The Forsaken will take you all," _it hissed. Anger surged through Jace and a snarl erupted through his teeth _arrogant bastard_ thought Jace and smiled a grim smile. The demons body jerked and began to dissolve.

Alec came over, stele in hand, and began tugging concernedly at Jaces sleeve. Jace watched as the stele burnt into his skin. He let out a sigh of relief as the pain disappeared. He heard a sharp crack and looked over to see Isabelle glaring at the mundie with her whip coiled around her wrist. The mundie gasped in surprise.

"Stupid little mundie," Isabelle hissed through her teeth. "You could have gotten Jace killed."

"He's crazy," the girl said, trying to pull her wrist free. "You're all crazy. What do you think you are, vigilante killers? The police "

"The police aren't usually interested unless you can produce a body," interrupted Jace. Cradling his arm he picked his way through cables towards this mysterious girl. He could sense Alec following him. The mundie's eyes flashed towards where the demon had disappeared. But to Jaces surprise, she didn't comment. He decided to comment for her.

"They return to their home dimensions when they die, in case you were wondering." He said.

"Jace," Alec hissed. "Be careful." Jace dropped his arm; he didn't want to seem weak in front of this mundie. He decided to see what the others thought they should do with her.

"She can see us, Alec," he said. "She already knows too much."

"So what do you want me to do with her?" Isabelle demanded. Jace suddenly realised that Isabelle's whip was still coiled around the girl's wrist. For some reason, this scene sparked anger in Jace. At Isabelle. And concern for this girl that he didn't even know.

"Let her go," he said quietly, hoping that they didn't detect the anger in his voice. Isabelle shot him a surprised almost angry look but thankfully didn't argue and let the girl go. She rubbed her sore wrist and Jace felt a strange urge to comfort her. Why was he having all these feelings?

"Maybe we should bring her back with us," Alec asked "I bet Hodge would like to talk to her."

"No way are we bringing her to the Institute," argued Isabelle as Jace knew she would. "She's a _mundie._" But Jace thought otherwise.

"Or is she?" Jace said softly. "Have you had dealings with demons, little girl? Walked with warlocks, talked with the night children? Have you "

"My name is not 'little girl,'" she interrupted, surprising Jace. "And I have no idea what you're talking about." But was there a trace of doubt in her voice? "I don't believe in in demons, or whatever you "

"Clary?" A young male voice interrupted her. She whirled around. _Clary _Jace thought. _What a pretty name, probably short for Clarissa._ A tough looking bouncer and the source of the voice, a geeky looking teen wearing a t-shirt saying MADE IN BROOKLYN, were stood in the door.

"Are you okay?" The boy peered through the gloom. "Why are you in here by yourself?" Jace sighed of relief internally. At least _he_ couldn't see them. "What happened to those guys you know, the ones with the knives?"

Clary stared at the boy then looked behind her where Jace, Alec and Isabelle stood, him dripping blood. He grinned at her confusion and shrugged a half-apologetic and half-mocking shrug. She had realised that the boy couldn't them and obviously didn't want to sound insane.

"I thought they went in here." Jace almost scoffed at her lame excuse. "But I guess they didn't. I'm sorry." The boys face went from worried to embarrassed and Jace smiled at the annoyed bouncer's expression. The whole scene was really quite funny and Jace suppressed the urge to laugh. Isabelle however couldn't and let out a mocking giggle.

Clary, the boy and a very annoyed bouncer exited the storage cupboard and Jace felt a sense of loss. He shook his head and hoped these feelings would disappear after a good night's sleep.

**Please Read and Review!**

**~Molly~**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Mortal Instruments, they belong the the wonderfully talented Cassandra Clare.**

**Hey! I just wanted to say thanks to CharlieHorse97 for commenting on all my chapters! If you love the Hunger Games check out his/her :S story, it's The Hunger Games from _Gales _POV! It's amazing! Also check out his/her-soz story for for The Mortal Instruments, its also incredible! :)**

**Anywho, this is short cos I just wanted something to keep to reading. I'll be posting a longer chapter soon!**

**~Molly~**

Jace wandered away from the Pandemonium Club with a determination to stop thinking about Clary. He tried to concentrate on Izzy and Alec's conversation but they were arguing about her.

"I still think we should have brought her back with us." Alec protested.

"But she's a _mundie_! She'll just think someone spiked her drink and forget all about it, we'll never see her again."

"But Hodge will want to talk to her!" Jace didn't listen anymore. What Izzy had said infused sadness in him. Never seeing Clary again. He shook his head, but the image of Clary fiercely saying that he couldn't go around killing people was plastered onto his eyelids.

They arrived back at the Institute and immediately Izzy and Alec stormed off to see Hodge, they were still bickering. Jace went to have a shower to try and drown the thoughts out of his head.

The next morning Jace woke up at 9am which was quite late for him. His first thought was_ I wonder what Clary's doing?_Jace sighed; it seemed as if these feelings wouldn't go away.

He quickly got dressed into his Shadowhunter gear and went to the dining room. Hodge was sat down reading a newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee. Alec and Isabelle were nowhere to be seen. Hodge looked as he always had but recently Jace thought he'd noticed more grey streaks in his hair. Hodge looked up as Jace walked in.

"Morning." He nodded. Jace nodded back

"Where are Alec and Izzy?" Jace asked.

"Training." Jace nodded, most of a young Shadowhunter's spare time was taken up by training. He grabbed a piece of already made toast and poured himself a cup of black coffee. Just before he bit into the toast he asked Hodge, "This wasn't made by Izzy, was it?"

Hodge smiled, lines fanning out from the edge of his eyes, they all laughed at Izzy's cooking as it always failed miserably.

"Does it look like it?" Hodge asked, going along with the joke. Jace looked at the toast overly closely, and then smelt it.

"Looks and smells normal but who knows what horrors Izzy's capable of." Hodge smiled again and said "I made them, so I'm pretty sure they're edible." Jace nodded and took a big bite of the toast. With food in his mouth he said "Taste's normal too." Hodge stood up; he was wearing a worn brown suit, with pinstripe lines on it.

"I'm off-" Hodge started.

"-to the library." Finished Jace.

"I'm getting predictable." Hodge chuckled as he turned towards the door Jace followed him.

"I'll see you later." Jace told Hodge and turned towards the training halls.

"Oh Jace?" Jace turned back around.

"Alec and Isabelle told me about the mundie girl."

"Clary." Jace automatically said.

"Yes, I'll tell you tonight whether I want you to bring her in, I'll mull it over."

"Alright," replied Jace, trying to contain the excitement and hope that sparked inside him at the thought of seeing Clary again. And with that, he felt more upbeat as he jogged towards training.

**Please read and review!**

**~Molly~**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:I don not own the Mortal Instruments, they belong the the wonderfully talented Cassandra Clare. I have only written it from a different POV.**

**Hi! Thanks again to CharlieHorse97 :) please check out her stories, they're fab! Also if anyone wants to be my beta, can they contact me? That would be awesome! ;)**

** You guys are in for a treat! I have written an extra long chapter for April Fools day! :) please read, enjoy and review! Thanks,**

**~Molly~**

"Jace?" Izzy asked as Jace dodged a fierce jab from Alec.

"Yeah?"

"Hodge wants to see you in the library." Izzy stalked in and took Jace's place in combat with Alec. Jace glanced at the clock in the training room and felt anticipation spark in him. This was probably about Clary.

"See you guys later."Synchronised 'later's' were chorused back to him.

He reached the library and walked up to the desk where Hodge was sat.

"I've decided that Clary is too dangerous to be let go. She is a mundane that knows about us, the first one for hundred's of years. I need you to bring her in." Jace could barely contain his excitement. He was going to see Clary again. He had to be around her, to see if there was any explanation of these unusual feelings.

"Sure thing." Jace tried to keep the anticipation out of his voice but failed. Hodge gave him an odd look. So he wouldn't suspect anything, Jace promptly turned and almost ran out of the library. He had to find Clary as soon as possible.

* * *

First Jace headed to the Pandemonium and searched in a 3 block radius. When he couldn't find her there, he widened his perimeter.

After hours of searching Jace was beginning to lose hope. The sky was quickly darkening and street lights were starting to flicker on. He wandered aimlessly back to the Institute barely glancing in shops he passed. But a flash of red at the corner of his eye made him stop and look twice.

There she was.

She was sat in a cafe which Jace saw was called _Java Jones_ with the same geeky boy from the Pandemonium. A strange anger started to bubble in the pits of his stomach and he labelled it as jealousy. Jace didn't think he'd even felt jealousy before. Only read about it in books. And all that triggered it was the simple scene of Clary sitting in a cafe with a boy.

Using these feelings he built up a wall of arrogance and swaggered into _Java Jones_. His ears were suddenly attacked by a burst of feedback. A boy of 16 was standing on stage, wrestling a microphone. A boy of the same age was beating irregularly on a djembe looking stoned.

He had to get Clary on her own, away from the boy she was sitting with. He decided stand in the line for the counter as an act of normality.

In front of him, two boys were talking and glancing back at Clary and the boy. Jace decided to listen in.

"Looks like Simon's gonna admit his love for Clary." One boy said.

"He's a moron; she obviously doesn't feel the same."

Jace didn't listen to any more. He felt victorious for some reason. As if because Clary didn't like this Simon, she wouldn't fall head over heels for him. All the same he didn't want to miss this declaration of love.

He managed to grab a sofa a few feet behind Clary and Simon. Even so, he had to lean forward to hear their conversation, as the boy on stage - who had the tips of his hair dyed pink - , had started reading poetry. Jace hadn't noticed him start as he'd be enveloped in his thoughts.

"'Come, my faux juggernaut, my nefarious loins! Slather every protuberance with arid zeal!' " the boy wailed into the microphone.

Simon slid into his seat. "Please don't tell anyone I know him." Jace almost scoffed, they knew this boy?

Clary giggled and to Jace it was like the tinkling of bells. "Who uses the word 'loins'?" she said.

"Eric," Simon said. "All his poems have loins in them."

"'Turgid is my torment!'" This boy Eric wailed. "'Agony swells within!' "

"You bet it does," Clary said and Jace suppressed the urge to laugh. "Anyway, about that girl who thinks you're cute-"

"Never mind that for a second," Simon said. Jace leant forward in anticipation. What if Clary did like this boy?

"There's something I want to talk to you about."

"Furious Mole is not a good name for a band." Clary said. Jace sighed, he almost felt sorry for Simon, Clary completely didn't get it.

"Not that," Simon said. "It's about what we were talking about before. About me not having a girlfriend."

"Oh," Clary shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. Ask Jaida Jones out. She's nice, and she likes you."

"I don't want to ask Jaida Jones out." Oh by the Angel this was awful, but it was also incredibly funny. Jace suppressed another laugh.

"Why not? You don't like smart girls? Still seeking a _rockin' bod_? This just gets worse and worse.

"Neither," Simon was agitated and Jace suppressed another laugh at his expression. "I don't want to ask her out because it wouldn't really be fair to her if I did..." He trailed off.

"Why not?" Oh by the _Angel, _Clary, can't you see it? Jace bit his fist to keep from laughing as Simon turned a greenish colour.

"Because I like someone else."

"Okay," Clary said. She still obviously didn't get it. Simon was just digging himself a hole. "You're not gay, are you?" she asked. Jace cringed. He screwed up his face and tensed his stomach muscles to keep from bursting out laughing. Simon turned even greener. Jace hoped he wouldn't throw up.

"If I were, I'd dress better."

"So, who is it then?" Clary's questioning face and Simon's green one made it impossible for Jace to suppress a laugh. He just managed to cover it with a mocking cough.

She turned around. He'd forgotten how beautiful she was. Her gorgeous red hair exploding from the top of her heart shaped face and her contrasting green eyes which were now boring into his. Simon's blank expression reassured Jace that he still couldn't see him. Jace waved at her and smiled in amusement. He got to his feet and walked slowly to the door. He knew with conviction that she would follow him.

Jace slouched against the wall outside pushing buttons on the Sensor. She burst out the doors and Jace put it back in his pocket. He decided to start the conversation.

"Your friend's poetry is terrible." Jace smiled in satisfaction as she blinked, caught off guard.

"What?"

"I said his poetry was terrible. It sounds like he ate a dictionary and started vomiting up words at random."

"I don't care about Eric's poetry." She sounded angry. "I want to know why you're following me."

"Who said I was following you?"

"_Nice_ try. And you were eavesdropping, too. Do you want to tell me what this is about, or should I just call the police?" She really didn't know anything.

"And tell them what?" Jace made his voice sound as withering as he could. "That invisible people are bothering you? Trust me, little girl, the police aren't going to arrest someone they can't see."

"I told you before, my name is not 'little girl'," she said through her teeth. But when she was angry she was like an upset kitten: cute and not going to hurt you. "It's Clary."

"I know, pretty name. Like the herb, clary sage. In the old days people thought eating the seeds would let you see the Fair Folk. Did you know that?" Of course she didn't, she didn't seem to know anything.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You don't know much, do you?" Jace said, full of contempt. "You seem to be a mundane like any other mundane, yet you can see me. It's a conundrum." Unless she's a Shadowhunter.

"What's a mundane?"

"Someone of the human world. Someone like you."

"But _you're_ human," she said.

"I am," Jace said "But I'm not like you."

"You think you're better. That's why you were laughing at us."

"I was laughing at you because declarations of love amuse me, especially when unrequited." Jace said. "And because your Simon is one of the most mundane mundanes I've ever encountered. And because Hodge thought you might be dangerous, but if you are, you certainly don't know it."

"_I'm_ dangerous?" she echoed. "I saw you kill someone last night. I saw you drive a knife up under his ribs, and-" She paused, and Jace longed to know what she was thinking.

"I may be a killer," he said, "but I know what I am. Can you say the same?"

"I'm an ordinary human being, just like you said. Who's Hodge?"

"My tutor. And I wouldn't be so quick to brand myself as ordinary, if I were you." Jace leant forward; he had to find out if she was a Shadowhunter. "Let me see your right hand."

"My right hand?" she asked. Jace nodded. "If I show you my hand, will you leave me alone?"

"Certainly." He smiled, _not _he added mentally.

Clary reluctantly held out her right hand. It was pale and had a light dusting of freckles to match her hair. He turned it over and examined it. No sign of a rune. "Nothing." Disappointment seeped into his voice. "You're not left-handed, are you?" Jace asked hopefully.

"No. Why?"

He let go of her hand and shrugged. "Most Shadowhunter children get Marked on their right hands-or left, if they're left handed like I am-when they're still young. It's a permanent rune that lends an extra skill with weapons." He was telling her too much but it felt good, talking to someone about this other than the Lightwoods or Hodge. Jace showed her the back of his left hand where the rune was.

"I don't see anything," she said.

"Let your mind relax," he suggested. "Wait for it to come to you. Like waiting for something to rise to the surface of water."

"You're crazy." She said but she relaxed and gazed at his hand. Suddenly, her eyes widened. "A tattoo?"

Jace smiled smugly. "I thought you could do it. And it's not a tattoo-it's a Mark. They're runes, burned into our skin.

"They make you handle weapons better?" Clary asked her voice full of doubt.

"Different Marks do different things. Some are permanent but the majority vanish when they've been used."

"That's why your arms aren't all inked up today? Even when I concentrate?"

"That's exactly why." Jace said, pleased that he'd taught her something. "I knew you had the Sight, at least." He glanced up at the darkening sky. "It's nearly full dark. We should go."

"_We?_ I thought you were going to leave me alone?"

"I lied." Jace said, with only a pinch of guilt. "Hodge said I have to bring you to the Institute with me. He wants to talk to you."

"Why would he want to talk to me?"

"Because you know the truth now," he said. "There hasn't been a mundane who knew about us for at least a hundred years."

"About _us?_" she echoed. "You mean people like you. People who believe in demons."

"People who kill them," Jace corrected her. "We're called Shadowhunters. At least, that's what we call ourselves. The Downworlders have less complimentary names for us."

"Downworlders?" she asked. Jace had forgotten that she was new to this.

"The Night Children. Warlocks. The fey. The magical folk of this dimension."

She shook her head. "Don't stop there. I suppose there are also, what, vampires and werewolves and zombies?"

"Of course there are," he informed her. "Although you mostly find zombies further south, where the _voudun_ priests are."

"What about mummies? Do they only hang around in Egypt?"

"Don't be ridiculous. No one believes in mummies."

"They don't?"

"Of course not," Jace said. "Look, Hodge will explain all this to you when you see him."

Clary crossed her arms over her chest in protest. "What if I don't want to see him?"

"That's your problem. You can either come willingly or unwillingly."

Her eyes widened. "Are you threatening to _kidnap_ me?"

"If you want to look at it that way," Jace said, "yes."

Clary opened her mouth but was interrupted by a buzzing noise. Her phone.

"Go ahead and answer that if you like," Jace smiled.

The phone stopped ringing, and then started again louder. Clary dug it out her bag and raised it to her ear. "Mom?" Clary's back stiffened. "It's all right, Mom. I'm fine. I'm on my way home-" A loud yell screeched out of the phone. "Mom!" Clary shouted into the phone. "Mom, are you all right?"

Alarm and anxiety prickled through Jace. He heard a loud crash out of the phone. "_Who's_ found you? Mom, did you call the police? Did you-" Clary paused. "_Mom!"_ Clary shrieked and Jace took a step towards her. "Mom, are you there?"

"Clary," Jace said. It was the first time he'd ever said her name out loud. "What's going on?" She ignored him and pressed a button on her phone. Jace could hear the busy signal from where he stood.

Clary's hands started to shake uncontrollably; the phone slipped from her grasp and hit the pavement hard. She fell to her knees and examined the phone. There was a huge crack down the front. "Dammit!" she cried and threw the phone down.

"Stop that." Jace hauled her to her feet and gripped her wrist. "Has something happened?"

"Give me your phone," Clary said and scrabbled at his chest. She grabbed the Sensor. "I have to-"

"It's not a phone, it's a Sensor. You won't be able to use it."

"But I need to call the police!" She said desperately.

"Tell me what happened first." Jace said. Clary ignored him and tried to pull her wrist free but she couldn't pull out of his grip. "I can _help_ you." Jace continued.

Suddenly Jace saw her lash out at him. Pain exploded in his cheek as her nails raked it. He jerked back in surprise. Before he could stop her, Clary ran off towards Seventh Avenue. For a moment Jace stood uncertainly after her. Then he rang the Institute and explained the situation and that he was going after Clary. He drew a few runes on his arm, took a deep breath and ran after Clary.

**Hope you liked it! Please read and review!**

**~Molly~**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own TMI they belong to Cassandra Clare. I have only written it from Jace's POV. :)**

**First, I just want to say...I have read City of Fallen Angels! It was AWESOME can't wait for the next one and Clockwork Prince!**

**Second, I want to thanks my beta icyfirelove3! She got it back to me in...a day! I mean WOW thats quick! So thanks! :)**

**Third, I want to thank CharlieHorse97, icyfirelove3 and Lovethenight for reviewing! Also everyone else but especially them, they're all so sweet! :)**

**Finally, Please read, enjoy and then hopefully review! Thanks**

**~Molly~**

**City of Bones Jace's POV Chapter 6**

Even though Jace was quicker than her, Clary always managed to stay ahead. He ran around the corner and he could see her running away on the other side of the lights. He noted that she turned left. Jace was about to cross but got trapped by a DON'T WALK sign. He urged the lights to change.

After he crossed, Jace turned left and saw Clary walk into an apartment building. He decided to wait outside: he didn't want to storm in if Clary's mother had only lost signal or something.

About 2 minutes went by and Jace debated whether or not to go back to the Institute. A faded scream tore through Jace like a bullet. It was Clary's scream, Jace had no doubt. Without hesitating he ran into the building.

He passed an old woman sat in an armchair. A gold plaque was fixed to her door which read 'MADAME DOROTHEA, SEERESS AND PROPHETESS.' She sat up.

"Tell Jocelyn and that girl Clary to keep it down, will you?" croaked Madame Dorothea. Jace nodded and continued with urgency towards what he assumed was Clary's apartment. When Jace reached the door his assumptions were proved right by long, deep scratches gauged into the door, barely visible in the fading light.

He pulled out a seraph blade and whispered its name. As he stepped through the open door he called out, "Clary?" There was no answer. Anxiousness bloomed inside Jace and the sight that met his eyes turned it into an explosion.

The apartment had been ransacked, with pictures torn out of their frames and bottles smashed. But none of that was as horrifying as the sight that lay before him. Clary, lying in a pool of her own blood, with a half dead Ravener demon on top of her.

Jace surged forward; ready to stab it and knock it off her but it was not necessary. He watched as it disappeared back to his home dimension. He slipped the blade back up his sleeve. Without hesitating, Jace knelt forward and gently scooped Clary up. It concerned Jace that she weighed barely anything, perhaps that was her height? _Or maybe you're just being paranoid_ Jace thought and shook his head.

He quickly but carefully manoeuvred himself past the old woman as she stood up in surprise when she saw Clary and ran outside. Jace heard police sirens in the distance and swore softly: those were probably Du'sien demons. He laid Clary gently on the grass and knelt next to her. He searched his pockets and bingo! He'd found it: cloth with a specialised soothing wax on it.

The Du'sien demons were parking up and Jace moved Clary so that the hedge partially hid them. The sirens were deafening and Jace wondered why Clary wasn't waking up.

As if on cue, Clary gagged and her eyes flickered open. Jace started tearing the cloth into strips. "Don't move," he hissed, somehow knowing she would disobey. As Jace expected, she turned her head and her eyes screwed up in pain. Even though Jace wanted to comfort her, he didn't as he _had_ _warned_ her.

She tried to sit up, and gagged again, obviously not learning her lesson from the first time. Her hands twitched and clutched the soft earth.

"I told you not to move," Jace hissed. "That Ravener demon got you in the back of the neck. It was half-dead so it wasn't much of a sting, but we have to get you to the Institute. Hold still." Jace knew how outraged the others would be but it wasn't as if he had a choice here.

"That thing-the monster-it _talked."_ Clary had started shuddering violently which alarmed Jace.

"You've heard a demon talk before," Jace replied as he gently tied the knotted cloth around her injured neck.

"The demon in the Pandemonium-it looked like a person."

"It was an Eidolon demon. A shape-changer. Raveners look like they look. Not very attractive, but they're too stupid to care."

"I said it was going to eat me." Jace's hands almost spasmed in anger at the frailness of her voice.

"But it didn't. You killed it." He finished the knot and sat back. He smiled at the relief in her eyes. Clary dragged herself into a sitting position.

"The police are here," she croaked weakly. "We should-"

"There's nothing they can do. Somebody probably heard you screaming and reported it. Ten to one those aren't real police officers. Demons have a way of hiding their tracks."

"My mom-" How could she worry about someone else now?

"There's Ravener poison coursing through your veins _right now._ You'll be dead in an hour if you don't come with me." He stood up and held out his hand. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. "Come on."

Clary tilted to the side and Jace concernedly slid a hand across her back, holding her steady. "Can you walk?"

"I think so," she said bravely. She glanced over to where the Du'sien demons were walking up the path. Jace followed her gaze and saw that the policewoman's hand was skeletal. "Her hand-"

"I told you they might be demons." He glanced around. "We have to get out of here. Can we go through the alley?" Jace asked.

Clary shook her head. "It's bricked up. There's no way-" she didn't finish her sentence. She doubled over in a fit of coughing and raised her hand to cover her mouth. It came away splattered with blood. She whimpered and all Jace wanted to do was drag her into a hug. But he didn't. The urgency of the situation caught up with Jace and he grabbed her wrist and turned it over.

He got out his stele. _She can see us. She can see demons. She has the Sight. She killed a Ravener. Oh By the Angel I hope this doesn't kill her. _All of these thoughts whirled around Jace's mind as he lightly pressed the stele against her skin. Clary tried to pull her hand away but his grip was too tight.

When he was finished Clary examined her wrist and asked, "What's that supposed to do?"

"It'll hide you," Jace replied. "Temporarily." He slid the stele into his belt. He answered Clary's questioning look. "My stele." He said, right before he realised that she wouldn't know what that was. Clary was wobbling and moments away from fainting.

Right before she did faint and fell over, Clary said, "Jace." He caught her and swung her up into his arms.

"I'm breaking the Covent law." He muttered, knowing how mad Izzy and the others would be.

Even though she was dying, Jace couldn't help but feel warm inside: she'd said his name. Clary's eyes flickered then closed and Jace knew she was unconscious. As Jace began the short walk back to the Institute, he dreaded to think what was awaiting him there.

**Please Read and Review! :)**

**~Molly~**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey! I know, I know, I haven't updated in a while, I 've been insanely busy!**

**I'm thinking of writing a fanfic for the Morganville Vampire series, please leave any thoughts in your reviews cos I'm a bit wary about it. Thanks!**

**I'd just like to thank my beta icyfirelove3 for getting me this back to me so quickly, it made my head spin! Cheers! **

**As always please read,enjoy and hopefully review! *crosses fingers***

**City of Bones Jace POV Chapter 7**

Jace strode through the elevator door of the Institute. Izzy whirled down the corridor in front him like a tornado.

"Where the hell–" she began, then paused when she saw Clary. "Is that the _mundane?"_

Jace nodded. "But Isabelle she's dying. She got attacked by a Ravener."

"How–"

"Look, Izzy could you please get mad at me later? Go and get Hodge and let me through, I'm going to the infirmary."

Izzy paused and then nodded. She turned around and stormed off to direct her anger at Hodge. Jace winced, he felt sorry for him. He found the door to the infirmary and used his back to open it. He gently placed Clary on an already made white bed.

He heard a choked noise behind him and turned slowly towards it. Hodge was stood in the doorway, fury lining his face. He was carrying a wooden box which held vials of liquid varying in colours, from bright green to a deep burgundy. Izzy and Alec where shadows behind him.

"Jace, there is blood and ichor staining the foyer. There's a dying mundane on one of the sick beds and possibly some Ravener demons in an apartment building. You're lucky Robert and Maryse are in Idris or by the Angel..." Hodge trailed off.

"Look, there was only one Ravener and it was dead when I got there, I'll give my full report later. For now," Jace said with urgency, "Could you please concentrate on keeping her alive?" He pointed at Clary.

Hodge opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it and scurried towards Clary. When he reached the bed, he looked up at Jace. "This'll take a while; could you clean the foyer?" He looked down, not expecting an answer.

Jace strode towards the door. On the threshold, he paused and glanced back at Clary's unmoving form. He thought about how she didn't react to his sarcastic comments and arrogance in the same way everyone else did. How she could see right through it and inside him.

It was not right. The phrase his father had taught him _to love is to destroy _floated through his mind like a leaf on a fall breeze. He shook his head and walked to the foyer.

Isabelle was stood there; a smug grin on her face and a box of cleaning equipment dangling from her right hand.

"I got the cleaning stuff out for you," she smiled and pointed at the blood and ichor staining the floor. "Now get to work."

"Anything to get me on my hands and knees Iz," Jace retorted and winked at her.

Izzy rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation. She dumped the box on the floor and stormed off. Jace took the cleaning sprays out and got to work.

After spending hours cleaning the foyer, Jace went to the library and spent another half an hour filling Hodge in on exactly what had happened that evening. It was past midnight by the time Jace finally collapsed into a restless sleep.

* * *

The next few days were peculiar for Jace; he could not keep Clary out of his mind. When he closed his eyes, bright green eyes and red curly hair were plastered to his lids. And that phrase _to love is to destroy _pounded round his head like a fierce migraine. He built up a fortress of arrogance around him, snapping at the others more than often.

Alec and Izzy told him that Clary was not dying but not showing signs of movement. Jace did not visit her. He thought that if he did, the walls he had so carefully built would shatter like glass. Even so, he eagerly anticipated the day that she woke up-_if_ she woke up. That thought sent pangs through his heart and he didn't want to dwell on it.

To take his mind off of Clary, Jace vigorously trained. He also read and played some music.

Anything to distract him.

On the second day Clary was unconscious, Hodge asked Jace to burn Clary's clothes. They were covered in blood and ichor. Jace did so but didn't enjoy it; burning her clothes didn't help him to not think about Clary.

It had been days since he had brought Clary to the Institute and still she was unconscious. The others thought that she would die in her sleep. Jace hoped that she wouldn't but partially he hoped she did. Maybe her death would destroy these odd feelings.

* * *

It was the third day Clary had been unconscious and Jace had just woken up. He didn't feel like training so he decided to go to the music room and play on the grand piano. He sat on the soft stool and the notes flowed under his hands. He closed his eyes but he could still only see those green eyes. He played harder trying to drown out his thoughts.

Jace heard a shuffle behind him. He turned and peered into to gloomy blackness.

"Alec?" he asked "Is that you?"

"It's not Alec. It's me," a female voice answered him. A female voice that wasn't Izzy. A figure entered the music room. A short, slender teenage girl with red hair and green eyes.

"Clary."

He ignored the jolt of adrenalin that sparked through him at the sight of her and said, "Our own Sleeping Beauty. Who finally kissed you awake?" Thoughts of him kissing her rose to mind and he shook his head.

"Nobody. I woke up on my own."

"Was anyone with you?" Jace said, not liking the idea of her being alone in a strange place.

"Isabelle, but she went off to get someone–Hodge, I think. She told me to wait, but–"

"I should have warned her about your habit of never doing whatyou're told." Jace squinted and took in what she was wearing-too big flashy, glitzy clothes that could only belong to one person. "Are those Isabelle's clothes? They look ridiculous on you."

"I could point out that you burned _my _clothes."

"It was purely precautionary." Jace closed the smooth piano lid. "Come on, I'll take you to Hodge."

Jace lead her past the many bedrooms. As if on cue Clary asked, "Why does this place have so many bedrooms? I thought it was a research institute."

"This is the residential wing. We're pledged to offer safety and lodging to any Shadowhunter who requests it. We can house up to two hundred people here."

"But most of these rooms are empty."

"People come and go. Nobody stays for long. Usually it's just us: Alec, Isabelle, Max, their parents–and me and Hodge."

"Max?"

"You met the beauteous Isabelle? Alec is her elder brother. Max is the youngest, but he's overseas with his parents."

"On vacation?" _Oh man, _Jace thought. _She's going to ask a whole load of questions_. But it was nice to talk to someone else about the Shadow World, it was nice to explain.

"Not exactly." He hesitated and tried to think of a mundane term for Maryse and Robert.

"You can think of them as–as foreign diplomats, and of this as an embassy, of sorts. Right now they're in the Shadowhunter home country, working out some very delicate peace negotiations. They brought Max with them because he's so young."

"Shadowhunter home country?" She sounded baffled. "What's it called?"

"Idris." Jace replied automatically.

"I've never heard of it." _You're missing out on such beauty,_ Jace thought sympathetically.

"You wouldn't have." He said, letting arrogance seep into his voice like ink on paper. "Mundanes don't know about it. There are wardings–protective spells–up all over the borders. If you tried to cross into Idris, you'd simply find yourself transported instantly from one border to the next. You'd never know what happened."

"So it's not on any maps?"

"Not mundie ones. For our purposes you can consider it a small country between Germany and France."

"But there isn't anything between Germany and France. Except Switzerland."

"Precisely." Jace grinned.

"I take it you've been there. To Idris, I mean."

Jace's grin faded and he kept his tone safely neutral, trying not to trigger any probing questions from Clary. "I grew up there." He said. "Most of us do. There are, of course, Shadowhunters all over the world. We have to be everywhere because demonic activity is everywhere. But to a Shadowhunter, Idris is always 'home'"

"Like Mecca or Jerusalem," said Clary. "So most of you are brought up there, and then when you grow up–"

"We're sent where we're needed," Jace said shortly. "And there are a few, like Isabelle and Alec, who grow up away from the home country because that's where their parents are. With all the resources of the Institute here, with Hodge's training–" He broke off when spotted the familiar arched wooden doors. "This is the library."

Church was sprawled in front of them. As they approached he raised his head and yowled. "Hey, Church." Jace said and started stroking the Persian with his bare foot. Church slit his eyes in pleasure.

"Wait," said Clary. "Alec and Isabelle and Max–they're the only Shadowhunters your age that you know, that you spend time with?"

Jace stopped stroking the cat and looked at her. _Why would she ask that?_ "Yes."

"That must get kind of lonely." Jace paused; no-one had ever said that to him before, though he had thought it.

"I have everything I need." He said, pushed the double doors open and strode inside.

* * *

**Please review! **

**Okay my beta icyfirelove 3 has been doing this thing, where she puts a secret word in her authors note and then if you read the autors note, you put it in your review! It basically makes me realise who reads authors notes and I'm kinda bored! :) hmmmm secret word for today is...chemistry! Cos, I had chemistry to day :D **

**Until next time.**

**~Molly~**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey! Been a while I know but meh, what you gonna do? Thank-you so much for reviews and alerts and favourites!**

**Big Shout out to icyfirelove3! She's my beta and edited this in a couple hours! Also check out her story City of Glass Hearts and her blog which is www DOT icyfirelove3 DOT blogspot DOT com it's amazing! **

**Another shout out to CharlieHorse97 who's awesome!**

**Yeah, read the bottom A/N for some info and maybe a reward...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Mortal Instruments series or most of the dialogue in this they all belong to the wondefully talented Cassandra Clare - who tweeted me! I know it's sad how excited I am but I DON'T CARE =D**

**Love Ya! **

**~Molly~**

**Chapter 8**

Jace let a faint smile slide across his face as the familiar smell of books hit him like a wave and shrouded him. He felt comfortable here. There were many books that were stacked around this circular room. So many that not even he had read them all. The beautiful velvet and leather spines leapt out to meet his eyes and the cursive gold script tempted him to read it.

He glanced down at the floor, and at the inlaid glass and stones that, when looked at from above could clearly be seen as the Angel Raziel with the Mortal Cup and Sword.

He noted Alec sprawled in the red armchair by the empty fireplace but didn't comment as he was enjoying the look of awe on Clary's face. He turned his head forward.

The familiar sight of his tutor and Hugo, the raven met his eyes. Hodge sat at the gleaming desk, with the carved wooden angels having it resting on their back, the suffering etched into their faces. To Jace, it reminded him of Atlas from Greek mythology; forever confined to his fate.

"A book lover, I see," Hodge said, smiling at Clary. "You didn't tell me that, Jace."

Jace chuckled, thinking back to when he first met Clary. He grinned and stood with his hands in his pockets, behind her. "We haven't done much talking during our short acquaintance," he laughed. "I'm afraid our reading habits didn't come up.

Clary's head whipped round, sending a glint of red into Jace's eyes. She shot him a glare that plainly meant 'shut up' and span back round to face Hodge.

"How can you tell?" She asked him. "That I like books, I mean."

"The look on your face when you walked in," he replied, standing up and walking around the desk to talk to them. "Somehow I doubted you were that impressed by _me."_

As Hodge rose, Jace heard Clary make a choked noise that sounded like a stifled gasp. His eyebrows furrowed slightly in confusion; what had shocked her? Then he realised that she'd probably just noticed Hugo.

His assumptions were proved right when Hodge said, "This is Hugo. Hugo is a raven and, as such, he knows many things. I, meanwhile, am Hodge Starkweather, a professor of history, and, as such, do not know nearly enough."

Clary laughed. A tinkling sound that filled the entire room. Jace smiled as she introduced herself to Hodge and shook his hand. "Clary Fray."

"Honoured to make your acquaintance," he said. "I would be honoured to make the acquaintance of anyone who could kill a Ravener with her bare hands."

"It wasn't my bare hands," Clary replied modestly."It was Jace's – well I don't remember what it was called, but–"

"She means my Sensor," Jace cut in. "She shoved it down the thing's throat. The runes must have choked it. I guess I'll need another one," he added. "I should have mentioned that."

"There are several extra in the weapons room," said Hodge and directed his gaze back to Clary. "That was quick thinking," he smiled. "What gave you the idea of using the Sensor as a weapon?"

Before Clary could reply, a sharp laugh pierced through the room. Jace remembered Alec in the armchair. He turned to look at him. Jace was taken aback at the pure hostility in Alec's eyes, even though it wasn't directed at him. It was sharply concentrated on Clary.

"I can't believe you buy that story, Hodge," he sneered.

Jace felt a burst of anger. The same he'd felt at Isabelle in Pandemonium. A bizarre anger at them for doing or feeling something harmful to Clary.

"I'm not quite sure what you mean, Alec." Hodge raised a bushy gray eyebrow. "Are you suggesting that she didn't kill that demon after all?"

"Of course she didn't. Look at her – she's a mundie, Hodge, and a little kid, at that. There's no way she took on a Ravener."

The burst of anger had turned into a firework. Why was Alec suddenly being malicious?

"I'm not a little kid," Clary interrupted. "I'm sixteen years old – well, I will be on Sunday."

"The same age as Isabelle," Hodge told Alec. "Would you call her a child?"

"Isabelle hails from one of the greatest Shadowhunter dynasties in history," Alec said snidely. "This girl, on the other hand, hails from New Jersey."

"I'm from Brooklyn!" Clary sounded angry. "And so what? I just killed a demon in my own house, and you're going to be a dickhead about it because I'm not some spoiled-rotten rich brat like you and your sister?"

Alec looked like a Ravener demon had just got up and asked him if he wanted to play chess. Jace pressed his lips together and tried not to burst out in laughter.

"_What_ did you call me?" Alec asked.

"She has a point, Alec," Jace cut in, unable to resist aggravating him more. "Plenty of Downworld activity going on in the boroughs, you know. It's those bridge and tunnel demons you really have to watch out for –"

"It's not _funny, _Jace," Alec interrupted, standing up. "Are you just going to let her stand there and call me names?"

"Yes," Jace said. "It'll do you good – try to think of it as endurance training."

"We may be _parabatai_," Alec told him tightly. "But your flippancy is wearing on my patience."

"And your obstinacy wearing on mine," Jace retorted. "When I found her, she was lying in a pool of blood with a dying demon practically on top of her." Jace mentally winced at the memory. The blood and the demon were fine; it was just the thought of Clary injured that hurt. What was wrong with him? "I watched as it vanished. If she didn't kill it, who did?"

"Raveners are stupid," Alec replied. "Maybe it got itself in the neck with its stinger. It's happened before –"

"Now you're suggesting it committed suicide?"

Alec's mouth tightened and Jace felt almost...satisfied? "It isn't right for her to be here," Alec argued. "Mundies aren't allowed in the Institute, and there are good reasons for that. If anyone knew about this, we could be reported to the Clave."

"That's not entirely true," Hodge said calmly. "The Law allows us to offer sanctuary to mundanes under certain circumstances. A Ravener has already attacked Clary's mother – she could well have been next."

Hodge's words flew around Jace's mind: _attacked – she could well have been next_. He glanced at Clary and remembered the rune he'd Marked on her. He knew she wasn't going anywhere soon. Not when he told Hodge and Alec. He'd just have to face up to the weird feelings and try and figure Clary out.

Jace was so absorbed in his thoughts that he almost missed Alec's reply to Hodge. "Raveners are search-and-destroy machines," he said. "They act under orders from warlocks or powerful demon lords. Now, what interest would a warlock or powerful demon lord have in an ordinary mundane household?" Alec's eyes were fixed on Clary, as if she was something disgusting he'd trodden in. "Any thoughts?"

Clary replied, "It must have been a mistake."

"Demons don't make those kinds of mistakes. If they went after your mother, there must have been a reason. If she were innocent –"

"What do you mean, 'innocent'?" Clary's voice was quiet, but Jace could hear the faint anger in her voice.

Alec looked taken aback. "I –"

"What he means," said Hodge, trying to stop Alec digging himself a hole, "is that it is extremely unusual for a powerful demon, the kind who might command a host of lesser demons, to interest himself in the affairs of human beings. No mundane may summon a demon – they lack that power – but there have been some, desperate and foolish, that have found a witch or warlock to do it for them."

"My mother doesn't know any warlocks. She doesn't believe in magic." Clary paused, and then added, "Madame Dorothea – she lives downstairs – she's a witch. Maybe the demons were after her and got my mom by mistake?" Clary's voice sounded hopeful. Jace hated to take her hopes away. He remembered the research he did when he simply couldn't take his mind off of Clary.

Hodge's eyebrows disappeared into his hair. "A witch lives downstairs from you?"

"She's a hedge witch – a fake," Jace said. "I already looked into it. There's no reason for any warlock to be interested in her unless he's in the market for non-functional crystal balls."

"And we're back where we began," Hodge stroked Hugo. Jace smiled at the affection he felt for the bird. Hodge's next sentence, however, shattered the smile right off his face. "It seems the time has come to notify the Clave."

"No!" Jace protested. He thought about who Clary really was and all the Clave would do is treat her like Alec had. She was a Shadowhunter who had been brought up as a mundane. To the Clave, Clary was no better than a Downworlder. They would ruin her life. "We can't –"

"It made sense to keep Clary's presence here a secret while we were not sure she would recover," Hodge said with his sometimes beneficial, sometimes infuriating calmness. "But now that she has, she is the first mundane to pass through the doors of the Institute in over a hundred years. You know the rules about mundane knowledge of Shadowhunters, Jace. The Clave must be informed."

"Absolutely," Alec agreed. "I could get a message to my father –"

Jace breathed in deeply. He had to tell them. He braced himself for their reaction.

"She's not a mundane," he said quietly.

Hodges eyebrows rose into his hairline and stayed there. Alec, stopped in the middle of a sentence, choked in surprise.

"But I am," Clary argued.

"No," said Jace. "You aren't." He turned to Hodge and swallowed with nervousness at what he was about to say. "That night – there were Du'sien demons, dressed like police officers. We had to get past them. Clary was too weak to run, and there wasn't time to hide – she would have died. So I used my stele – put a _mendelin _rune on the inside of her arm. I thought –"

"Are you out of your _mind?"_Hodge slammed a hand down onto the desk, so hard that even though Jace had braced himself, he still flinched. "You know what the Law says about placing Marks on mundanes! You – you of all people ought to know better!"

"But it worked," Jace said, him calm and Hodge angry for once. "Clary, show them your arm."

With a baffled glance at Jace, Clary held out her bare arm. Just below her wrist the _mendelin_ rune, three overlapping circles, was very faint, like a faded scar. "See it's almost gone," Jace said logically. "It didn't hurt her at all.

"That's not the point." Hodge was using all his strength to rein his anger in and Jace knew it was because Clary was in the room. "You could have turned her into a Forsaken."

Two red dots accented Alec's cheek bones, which Jace knew only happened when he was really mad. "I can't believe you, Jace. Only Shadowhunters can receive Covenant Marks – they _kill_ mundanes –"

"She's not a mundane," Jace repeated for the millionth time. "Haven't you been listening? It explains why she could see us. She must have Clave blood."

Clary slowly lowered her arm and the movement brought her to Jace's attention. He'd completely forgotten she was in the room. _There's a first, _he thought darkly. "But I don't. I couldn't," she argued.

"You must," Jace said, not meeting her eyes, ashamed of what might have happened if she didn't. "If you didn't, that Mark I made on your arm . . ."

"That's enough Jace," Hodge said, the displeasure plain in his voice. "There's no need to frighten her further."

"But I was right, wasn't I? It explains what happened to her mother, too. If she was a Shadowhunter in exile, she might well have Downworld enemies."

"My mother wasn't a Shadowhunter!" Clary protested.

"Your father, then," Jace asked, eager to solve the mystery around Clary. "What about him?"

Clary returned his gaze with a flat stare. "He died. Before I was born."

Jace flinched and tried to conceal it. Clary's statement urged emotions in him, pity and sad remembrance of his own father.

Alec spoke before Jace could respond. "It's possible," he said awkwardly. "If her father was a Shadowhunter and her mother a mundane – well, we all know it's against the Law to marry a mundie. Maybe they were in hiding."

"My mother would have told me," Clary said, though Jace detected a sliver of doubt in her voice.

"Not necessarily," Jace said. "We all have secrets." _Some more than most,_ he thought.

"Luke," Clary said. "Our friend. He would know." A flash of guilt appeared on her face. "It's been three days – he must be frantic. Can I call him? Is there a phone?" She turned to Jace in desperate hope. "Please."

Jace paused, not sure whether Hodge would approve. He looked at Hodge, who nodded and moved away from the desk to reveal a globe which included Idris and an old fashioned black telephone.

Clary picked up the phone hesitantly and dialled a number.

"Luke!" She cried and sagged against the desk. Jace leant forward to help then stopped himself. "It's me, Clary." Jace assumed that this was going to be another one sided conversation for him. Last time one of those happened, Clary was attacked by a Ravener.

"I'm fine, she said in response to something Luke said. "I'm sorry I didn't call you before. Luke, my mom –" Clary stopped.

"Then you haven't heard from her." She sounded crushed and Jace longed to comfort her, yet again he held himself back.

"What did the police say?" Clary paused, and then shivered. _Probably remembering the Du'sien demons,_ Jace thought. He walked over and leant on Alec's chair.

"I'm in the city," Clary said. "I don't know where exactly. With some friends. My wallet's gone, though. If you've got some cash, I could take a cab to your place –"

The phone slipped in Clary's hand and she caught it. "What?"

Another pause. "We could call –"

A long silence, in which Clary's face became more and more confused and betrayed? This Luke guy sounded horrible. "But I don't want to stay here," Clary whined. "I don't know these people. You –"

Something stopped Clary short and Jace saw tears in her eyes. For the third time in that short conversation, Jace held himself back from comforting Clary. "I'm sorry. It's just –"

Clary just stopped and stared at the phone and Jace knew 'Luke' had hung up.

* * *

Clary dialled a number again, and then slammed the phone down hard in frustration. Her hands were trembling. She looked up and met his eyes.

"I take it he wasn't happy to hear from you?" Jace inquired.

Clary didn't respond and it was obvious that she was on the verge of crying.

"I think I'd like to have a talk with Clary," Hodge said. Jace stared at him; pleading. "Alone."

Alec stood up. "Fine we'll leave you to it," he said.

"That's hardly fair," Jace objected. "I'm the one who found her. I'm the one who saved her life!" Jace didn't want to miss a moment with Clary. These feelings were driving him insane! He turned to Clary, his gaze appealing. "You want me here, don't you?"

Clary looked away and Jace felt a strong sense of disappointment. "Not everyone wants you all the time, Jace," Alec laughed.

"Don't be ridiculous," Jace said, in weak response. "Fine, then. We'll be in the weapons room."

He and Alec strode out and the library door clicked shut behind them.

"Are you going to take a look at those seraph blades?" Alec asked his voice clean of all hostility and dislike.

"Yeah," Jace replied, "and I need to get another Sensor, because that Ravener choked on my old one."

"Oh, yes," Alec replied, the hostility seeping into his voice. "That's right."

Jace ignored his remark. "Here we are then," he said brightly, as they approached the weapons room. "Enter if you dare!" He grinned and put on a deep horror voice.

Alec just rolled his eyes, pushed open the metal doors and strode inside. Jace, still grinning, followed him.

The cold metal floor stung Jace's feet, so he got some leather boots out of a small gap in the right wall.

"Thanks for getting me some," Alec drawled sarcastically and pointed to his still bare feet.

"You never asked," Jace retorted. While Alec got out his own pair of boots, Jace reached past rows of glittering knives, to a silver box.

He placed it on the long table in the centre of the room and he and Alec leaned over to look at it.

Jace pulled out the three familiar tubes he and Alec had been working on.

"So, only two runes left," Jace said brightly. "Pick one."

Alec selected Semangelaf and Jace picked Sanvi. They both got out their steles and Jace very carefully Marked a very small rune on the base on the tube. Alec had already finished Semangelaf and had moved on to Mark Sansanvi. So Jace decided to put the other rune on the tip of Sanvi and he managed to Mark Sansanvi as well.

He grinned triumphantly. "Alec Lightwood, we are now finished."

Alec smiled, but before he could respond the door to the weapons room clicked open and Clary walked in.

Jace looked up and asked, "Where's Hodge?"

"Writing to the Silent Brothers."

"Ugh," said Alec and repressed a shudder. Jace thought of the tortured bodies and sewn mouths and was immediately concerned about Clary.

She approached the table carefully. "What are you doing?" She asked.

"Putting the last touches on these." Jace moved aside so Clary could see what was on the table. "Sanvi, Sansanvi and Semangelaf," he named. "They're seraph blades."

"Those don't look like knives. How did you make them? Magic?"

Jace felt a spark of annoyance and replied, "The funny thing about mundies is how obsessed with magic they are for a bunch of people who don't even know what the word means."

"I know what it means," Clary snapped.

"No, you don't, you just think you do. Magic is a dark and elemental force." Jace saw black images behind his lids at the remembrance of the effects of magic. "It's not just a lot of sparkly wands and crystal balls and talking goldfish.

"I never said it was a lot of talking goldfish, you –"

Jace waved a hand, cutting her off. "Just because you call an electric eel a rubber duck doesn't make it a rubber duck, does it? And God help the poor bastard who decides they want to take a bath with the duckie."

"You're drivelling," Clary observed.

Jace, who was hurt by that comment, replied with great dignity, "I'm not."

"Yes, you are," agreed Alec, unexpectedly siding with Clary. "Look, we don't do magic, okay?" he added, not meeting Clary's eyes. "That's all you need to know about it."

Clary opened her mouth to respond, then changed her mind and closed it, slowly. She turned to Jace. "Hodge said I can go home," she stated.

Jace almost dropped Sansanvi. "_He said what?"_

"To look through my mother's things," she edited. "If you go with me." _Now there's an offer I could never refuse,_ he thought with a grin.

"Jace," Alec warned, but Jace ignored him.

"If you really want to prove that my mom or dad was a Shadowhunter, we should look through my mom's things. What's left of them."

"Down the rabbit hole," smiled Jace. "Good idea. If we go right now, we should have another three, four hours of daylight."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Alec asked, as Jace moved towards the door.

"No, that's alright," Jace didn't turn around; he wanted the mystery revolving around Clary, solved. "Clary and I can handle this on our own."

Jace strode down the hall that led to the foyer. "Have you got your house keys?"

Clary looked down at her shoes and Jace smiled a bewildered smile when he saw that they were tied to her laces. "Yeah."

"Good. Not that we couldn't break in, but we'd run a greater chance of disturbing any wards that might be up if we did."

"If you say so." The hall had opened up into the foyer with a black gate marking the elevator and a marble stone floor. Jace pressed the button and heard the familiar creak and groan of the elevator. "Jace?" Clary asked.

"Yeah?"

"How did you know I had Shadowhunter blood? Was there some way you could tell?"

The elevator arrived with a final sigh. Jace unlatched the gate and slide it open. They both stepped inside. "I guessed," he said, latching the door behind them. "It seemed like the most likely explanation."

"You guessed? You must have been pretty sure, considering you could have killed me."

He pressed a button in the wall and the elevator lurched into life. "I was 90 percent sure," Jace said, which in Shadow World is very sure.  
"I see," she replied.

Something in Clary's voice made him turn to look at her but even his Shadowhunter reflexes didn't prepare for the hand that flew towards his face.

A sharp crack resonated through the elevator. He rocked back on his heels and held a hand to his cheek, but more in surprise than hurt.  
"What the hell was that for?" He asked feeling baffled.  
"The other 10 percent." And the rest of the ride down was in stony silence.

* * *

**Was that alright? I hope so. Please review! And add to story alert! As some of you know I'm doing a secret word in return for a teaser. So secret word is...tea! Well I'm English and tea is like my air so Ha!**

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**~Molly~**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey! Thank-you all for reviewing and adding to alert/favourite story, it's so nice of you :)**

**I know I haven't updated in a while but I've been busy :/ I spent AGESS writing this and am quite proud of it :D**

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**So yeah. Please press that review button, and thanks for reading!**

**Disclaimer: Cassandra Clare owns the plot, characters and dialogue. I have merely written it from another point of view.**

**~M~**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Jace spent the train ride to Brooklyn in an angry silence. Clary had slapped him. He had saved her life, Marked her so they could escape and had been almost certain she was a Shadowhunter, yet all she did was slap him. He deserved her singing his praises. She had a lot of force for a small person and Jace could feel the red mark on his cheek. Bored, he glanced round the train.

He hadn't bothered to glamour as there wasn't real reason to, and two teenage girls farther down the car were giggling and sneaking glances at him. Jace resisted the strong urge to wink at them because Clary was next to him and he didn't want to annoy her further.

It was a very strong urge.

He studied Clary instead, who seemed lost in her own head. Jace longed to know what she was thinking about, when suddenly her green eyes met his.

He arrogantly cocked an eyebrow. "Can I help you with something?" he asked.

"Those girls on the other side of the car are staring at you."

Jace assumed an air of gratification. "Of course they are," he replied. "I am stunningly attractive."

"Haven't you ever heard that modesty is an attractive trait?"

"Only from ugly people," Jace replied. As he eyed Clary, he knew that he was lying. Clary was far from ugly. "The meek may inherit the earth, but at the moment it belongs to the conceited. Like me."

The urge suddenly became too much. He winked at the girls, who giggled more and hid behind their hair.

Clary sighed. "How come they can't see you?"

"Glamours are a pain to use. Sometimes we don't bother."

Jace felt in a better mood after the talk with Clary and while they walked away from the station, towards her apartment, he got out a seraph blade and twirled it expertly over his knuckles. He hummed a tune that was between 'Happy Birthday' and 'The Battle Hymn of the Republic'.

"Do you have to do that?" Clary asked. "It's annoying."

Jace just hummed louder.

"I'm sorry I smacked you," Clary sighed.

Jace stopped humming. "Just be glad you hit me and not Alec. He would have hit you back."

"He seems to be itching for the chance." Jace furrowed his eyebrows slightly. So she had noticed Alec's behaviour as well. He made a mental note to ask him about it later. Clary kicked a can out of her way. "What was it that Alec called you? Para-something?"

"_Parabatai. _It means a pair of warriors who fight together – who are closer than brothers. Alec is more than just my best friend. My father and his father were _parabatai_ when they were young. His father was my godfather – that's why I live with them. They're my adopted family."

"But your name isn't Lightwood."

"No," Jace said. He didn't like talking about his real father and winced at the painful memory. Fortunately, they had arrived at Clary's house and Jace saw her concentration on their conversation leave.

Jace looked up and flexed his fingers in anticipation.

He glanced at Clary.

"It looks the same," she said, sounding surprised.

"On the outside," Jace replied grimly.

He reached into the jeans pocket he had put the new Sensor in, and brought it out.

"So that's a Sensor? What does it do?" Clary asked.

"It picks up frequencies, like a radio does, but these frequencies are demonic in origin."

"Demon shortwave?"

"Something like that," Jace smiled, and brandished the Sensor in front of him. He noticed the deep scratches on the door, deep like claw marks, but Clary didn't appear to have seen them so he didn't say anything. As they reached the stairs, the Sensor clicked slightly, then stopped. Jace frowned. "It's picking up trace activity, but that could just be left over from that night. I'm not getting anything strong enough for there to be demons present now."

Clary let out a breath. She sounded, and looked, relieved.

"Good," she said and bent down. Jace remembered the keys tied to her shoes and smiled.

As Clary got back up, her expression turned horrified and Jace knew she'd seen the gauges in the door.

He touched her arm lightly and said, "I'll go in first." Clary didn't reply and just stared at the door.

Jace pushed the door open with one hand. He checked that there were no demons and then beckoned Clary forward with the hand that held the Sensor. He walked inside and had to blink to adjust to the gloom. Shadows poured across the chipped marble floor like black paint. No light emerged from the filthy skylight or the broken light bulb swinging overhead. The old woman's door was closed firmly shut. What was her name? Madame Dorothea – that was it. No light seeped from under her door and Jace wondered whether she was out.

He ran his hand along the banister that led upstairs. It came away wet. Jace frowned. "Blood."

"Maybe it's mine," Clary said quietly. "From the other night."

"It'd be dry by now if it were," Jace replied calmly. "Come on."

He headed carefully upstairs and heard Clary follow him. Jace reached the landing, which was also dark, and let Clary go ahead to unlock her door. She fumbled with her keys three times before she managed to slide the right one into the lock. Jace leaned over her, watching impatiently. "Don't breathe down my neck," Clary hissed.

Jace sighed, but leant back a little as Clary's shaky hand managed to turn the key. He pulled her gently backwards. "I'll go in first."

Clary paused, then stepped aside to let him pass. Jace warily walked down the short hallway. Last time he was here, he didn't have time to properly look around her apartment.

Even so, most living rooms are not completely empty.

It was as if people were about to move in. The walls and floors were bare; there was no furniture and no curtains in the window. By the lighter squares of paint on the wall, Jace knew there had been paintings there. Clary's?

Jace narrowed his eyes trying to figure out what happened here. And more importantly – why?

Clary walked as if in a dream to the kitchen. Jace paced her. The kitchen was just as empty as the living room. The cabinets were open and the shelves were bare.

Clary cleared her throat nervously. "What would demons," she said, "want with our microwave?"

Jace shook his head grimly. "I don't know, but I'm not sensing any demonic presence right now. I'd say they're long gone."

Clary glanced around. "Are you satisfied?" Jace asked. "There's nothing here."

She shook her head. "I want to see my room."

Jace opened his mouth, about to say, _what's so important about a room? _But he thought better of it. Instead he said, "If that's what it takes," sliding the seraph blade into his pocket, convinced there was no danger.

Clary walked confidently to a door and Jace followed her, curious what her bedroom looked like. She reached for the knob. When Clary's hand touched it, her eyebrows furrowed – she was almost wincing. Jace looked at her quickly as she turned the knob and he felt a glimmer of suspicion in the pits of his stomach.

Suddenly, there was an almighty crash and the door blew outward. Jace, using his quick reflexes, nimbly stepped backwards, pressing himself against the wall. He was immediately concerned for Clary, and he saw her pulling herself to her knees by a wall.

Jace fumbled in his pocket for the seraph blade, his face a mask of surprise. _But there was no demonic presence!_ His mind was screaming at him.

That didn't include Forsaken.

A gigantic man stood facing him. He was at least seven feet tall and as wide as an oak tree. His face was a blur of rage. And it was solely focussed on Jace. Tattered rags hung off his skin like dead flesh; his hair was a thick mat consisting mainly of dirt. He stank of vile sweat and pungent flesh. Jace cursed his heightened senses. Seeing the brutal scars that covered its body, Jace felt a flicker of sympathy for this creature. However, this sympathy vanished at the sight of the broad bladed axe it was wielding. But, it was only one axe. And they were stupid.

Jace grinned wildly.

He held up the seraph blade and cried, "Sansanvi!" The glittering blade shot out of the silver tube.

Jace slashed at the beast and felt a burst of satisfaction at the deep bellow that was produced. He whirled around and raced towards Clary. He grabbed her arm and pushed her ahead of him down the hallway. The Forsaken's steps sounded as if they would fall through the floor and Jace felt disappointed that they didn't.

He and Clary sped out onto the landing and Jace quickly shut the door. He heard the automatic click and Clary caught her breath. Jace was filled with the familiar giddiness that he felt in battles but also with an unfamiliar and strong urge to protect Clary.

The door shook on its hinges as the Forsaken pounded it. Clary backed away to the stairs. Jace looked at her. "Get downstairs! Get out of the –"

Before he could finish his sentence, the door blew off its hinges. With the help of his quick reflexes he ran to the top stair and span around to face the Forsaken. He shouted at Clary to run but his voice was drowned out by the roar of the monster in the doorway.

Fortunately, the creatures gaze was fixed on Jace and it ignored Clary as it pounded towards him. Jace glanced from her to the Forsaken and saw the axe flip towards him. He ducked and it thunked heavily into the banister.

_Stupid! You just lost your weapon! _Jace thought and laughed wildly. The laugh seemed to anger the beast; abandoning the axe, he lunged for Jace, his huge fists raised. Jace swiftly curved the seraph blade in an arc and buried to the hilt in the giants shoulder.

_Got you, _he thought and smiled grimly. For a moment the Forsaken stood swaying like a blade of grass in an autumn breeze.

A very ugly, smelly blade of grass.

Suddenly, as if electrocuted, the giant lurched forward his arms outstretched and grasping for Jace. Surprised, Jace quickly stepped aside.

But not quickly enough.

The beast caught hold of him in an enormously strong grip. The Forsaken staggered, then fell. Pulling Jace with him.

The last thing he saw was Clary's anxious face, a strand of red hair dancing in front of her glinting green eyes. He felt a strange urge, like the need to tuck in a label, to slip it behind her ear. But the colours ebbed away and he was taken by the oblivion.

* * *

Sounds came to him first. Very faint though. Some crashes, that was probably Clary coming downstairs. So he'd only been out for a minute tops.

Jace could feel his arm bent underneath him. The bone most definitely broken.

He could feel the stickiness of blood across his chest and was unsure whether it was his or the Forsaken's. Jace was suddenly aware of a blinding weight across his legs.

The Forsaken.

"Jace?"

He opened his eyes to see Clary, thankfully unhurt, above him. "Is it dead?" he asked.

"Almost."

"Hell," Jace cursed. "My legs –"

"Hold still." She crawled to his head, grasped his arms and pulled. Jace grunted painfully as his arm dislodged and feeling came back into his legs. He noticed the convulsing body of the Forsaken and sighed grimly. Jace struggled to his feet and carefully slug his left arm across his chest. "Is your arm alright?" Clary asked.

"No. Broken," he replied curtly. "Can you reach into my pocket?"

Clary hesitated, almost imperceptibly, then nodded. "Which one?"

"Inside jacket, right side. Take out one of the seraph blades and hand it to me." Jace held still while she slipped her hands into the pocket. You never know, she could accidentally stab him. He was standing so close to her that he could smell her scent: soap, sweat and ever so faintly, blood. After what seemed like years, Clary drew out the seraph blade and Jace carefully released a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. She didn't look at him.

"Thanks," he said. Jace traced the silver tube before naming it. "Sanvi." The tube grew into a wicked looking knife and Jace allowed himself a flicker of a smile before standing over the Forsaken's scarred body. "Don't watch," he told Clary, knowing full well she would anyway. Jace raised the blade and forcefully smashed it down over the giant's neck. He tried to ignore the cracking that jarred through his hands as the bones snap. Blood spurted everywhere and spattered Jace's boots.

Jace was surrounded by the deep metallic smell of blood and he made a low growl unwillingly at the disgust and violence he'd brought into Clary's life. "I told you not to watch," he said.

"I thought it would disappear," she said faintly. "Back to its own dimension – you said."

"I said that's what happens to demons when they die." Jace winced as he shrugged his jacket off his shoulder to reveal the _iratze_ on his skin. "That wasn't a demon."

Awkwardly, with his right hand he drew his stele out of his belt. The familiarity of it in his hand soothed him. Jace noticed Clary and remembered the Mark he'd put on her a few nights ago. He grinned faintly at her expression. "This is a stele." He carefully placed the tip of the stele on the edge of the _iratze. _"And this," he said, "is what happens when Shadowhunters are wounded."

With the tip of the stele, he traced a line that connected the two parts of the mark. It was so familiar; he could have done it with his eyes closed. When he had finished and the mark was glowing, the pain seeped from him. His arm felt whole again and he sighed in relief.

He raised his arm, slowly at first, then properly and clenched his fist.

"That's amazing," Clary said her voice full of wonderment. "How did you –"

"That was an _iratze_ – a healing rune," Jace replied. "Finishing the rune with the stele activates it." He shoved the stele into his belt and shrugged his jacket back on. With the toe of his boot, Jace prodded the Forsaken. "We're going to have to report this to Hodge," he said. The image of Hodge's furious face rose to mind. "He'll freak out," Jace grinned.

"Why will he freak?" Clary asked. "And I get that that thing isn't a demon – that's why the Sensor didn't register it, right?"

Jace nodded. He decided to tell her about the Forsaken. "You see the scars all over its face?"

"Yes."

"Those were made with a stele. Like this one." He tapped the stele in his belt. "You asked me what happens when you carve Marks onto someone who doesn't have Shadowhunter blood. Just one Mark will burn you, but a lot of Marks, powerful ones? Carved into the flesh of a totally ordinary human being with no trace of Shadowhunter ancestry? You get this." Jace jerked his chin towards the corpse. "The runes are agonisingly painful. The Marked ones go insane – the pain drives them out of their minds. They become fierce, mindless killers. They don't sleep or eat unless you make them and they die, usually quickly. Runes have great power and can be used to do great good – but they can be used for evil. The Forsaken are evil."

Clary stared at him in absolute horror. "But why would anyone do that to themselves?"

"Nobody would. It's something that gets done to them. By a warlock, maybe, some Downworlder gone bad. The Forsaken are loyal to the one who Marked them, and they're fierce killers. They can obey simple commands, too. It's like having a – a slave army." He stepped over the dead Forsaken and glanced back at Clary. "I'm going back upstairs."

"But there's nothing up there."

"There might be more of them," Jace said hopefully. The giddiness still hadn't left him. "You should wait here," he said and then started up the steps.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said a shrill voice. "There are more of them where the first one came from."

Jace spun around and stared in bewilderment. He noticed Clary do the same thing. "Madame Dorothea?" Clary asked.

The old woman inclined her head regally. She stood in the doorway of her apartment dressed in what looked like a purple, silk tent. Gold chains wrapped around her wrists and neck and Jace was startlingly reminded of Isabelle. Her black and white striped hair was pinned in a cruel bun on her head.

While taking all this in Jace still hadn't stopped staring. "But..."

"More _what?"_ asked Clary.

"More Forsaken," Madame Dorothea replied, in a tone that implied it was obvious. She glanced around the entryway. "You have made a mess, haven't you? I'm sure you weren't planning on cleaning up either. Typical."

"But you're a _mundane_," Jace finally finished his sentence. Bewilderment flooded through him and his mind went through hundreds of explanations.

"So observant," said Dorothea, her eyes gleaming slyly. "The Clave really broke the mould with you."

At the mention of the Clave, the bewilderment disappeared replaced by a burning anger. "You know about the Clave?" he demanded. "You knew about them, and you knew there were Forsaken in this house, and you didn't notify them? Just the existence of Forsaken is a crime against the Covenant –"

"Neither the Clave nor Covenant have ever done anything for me," said Dorothea, her eyes flashing. "I owe them nothing." Her accent was replaced by something different for a moment. Something Jace recognised as pure _power._ He'd have to be on his guard around this woman.

"Jace, stop it," Clary said, interrupting Jace's retort. She turned to Madame Dorothea. "If you know about the Clave and the Forsaken, then maybe you know what happened to my mother?"

Dorothea shook her head, her earrings swinging. There was something like pity on her face, mixed with something else that Jace couldn't quite recognise. "My advice to you," she said, "is to forget about your mother. She's gone."

Jace glanced at Clary and walked back downstairs, his hand on her elbow, ready to catch her if she fell. "You mean she's dead?" Clary asked.

"No." Dorothea spoke the word almost reluctantly. "I'm sure she's still alive. For now."

"Then I have to find her," Clary said determinedly. "You understand? I have to find her before –"

Madame Dorothea raised a hand to stop Clary. "I don't want to involve myself in Shadowhunter business."

"But you knew my mother. She was your neighbour –"

"This is an official Clave investigation," Jace cut her off. "I can always come back with the Silent Brothers."

"Oh, for the –"Dorothea glanced at her door, then at Jace and Clary. "I suppose you may as well come in," she said, finally. She started towards the door, then halted on the threshold, glaring at them. Especially Jace. "But if you tell anyone I helped you, Shadowhunter, you'll wake up tomorrow with snakes for hair and an extra pair of arms."

"That might be nice, an extra pair of arms," Jace said arrogantly. "Handy in a fight."

"Not if they're growing out of your..." Dorothea looked at him and smiled cunningly. "Neck."

"Yikes," Jace said lamely.

"Yikes is right, Jace Wayland." Dorothea marched into her apartment as if into battle, her purple tent shrouding her like a cloak. Jace tightened his lips at the mention of his last name.

Clary looked at him. "Wayland?"

"It's my name," Jace said, feeling shaken. "I can't say I like that she knows it."

Clary glanced after Dorothea. The lights were on in her apartment and Jace noticed the scent of incense mixing unpleasantly with the stench of blood. "Still, I think we might as well try talking to her. What have we got to lose?"

Jace smiled as memories associated with that sentence floated to the surface of his mind. None of them good. All of them exciting. All of them ending with Alec yelling.

"Once you've spent a bit more time in our world, you won't ask me that again."

* * *

**Was that okay? I quite enjoyed it but I'm the author so it doesn't really count. **

**Secret word in return for a teaser is... Dance. I have to perform this piece to two hundred students and I hate dance with a passion. Mainly because I fall over my own feet.**

**Pretty please press that review button!**

**~M~ ...JAMES BOND! You know who you are :D**


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